Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Js6jx5_TDacVGQtwd0IIiZ3he5FuJMgb/edit

Head of MEAL will report directly to the Country Director and has regular interaction with other senior staff, country and regional heads, donors and key stakeholders. Specifically, responsible for implementing the M&E activities of AEA projects. S/he will lead in planning performance monitoring, regular field monitoring on the project activities implemented by partners, and preparing Semester/Annual reports on project progress. S/he will coordinate all data collection and verification to ensure high quality data, and to help ensure accountability and efficiency of the project. S/he will provide frequent remote engagement and field visits, working with project staff to assess field conditions and support partners capacity strengthening and facilitate the collection and reporting of quality data. The

incumbent will lead coordination and roll-out of the newly established regional M&E system including ensuring the proper use of monitoring tools in line with AEA standards for program and reporting quality.

Core Accountabilities

Technical Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability

• Leads the development and oversee the roll-out of a MEAL system and ensuring accountability to donors and beneficiaries;
• Builds strong relationships with colleagues and provide support as required to ensure MEAL system is understood and supported by partners and field staff;
• Works closely with the program teams to ensure that MEAL becomes an integral element of project implementation leading to enhanced quality, accountability;
• Oversees routine project monitoring activities and track progress towards targets, ensuring planned implementation and monitoring activities have been completed, as scheduled;
• Regularly reviews country tools and tracks forms to ensure activities that require follow-up are addressed, making sure to trouble-shoot and flag issues to the regional management team;
• Compiles, reviews and consolidates regular project data for use by different departments at regional and international levels, such as for funding and communication purposes;
• Tracks planned evaluations and ensure that evaluation reports are obtained and shared to facilitate learning;
• Supports country teams to design and carry out assessments and research exercises, as appropriate;
• Provides documentation on case studies and success stories, in collaboration with project staff.
• Lead the MEAL team and provide direction to the team member who needs the support
• Be a member of the Country Direction Committee and participate in the regular team meeting

External Reporting and Representation

• Ensures external accountability to donors through the implementation of timely and quality MEAL activities leading to timely and accurate reporting;
• Ensures that high quality analysis reports to illustrate AEAI’s impact and assessment findings are produced, including evidence of good practice and replicable programmes, and that they are communicated at appropriate events;
• Ensures that AEAI is represented at relevant partners and government level meetings at the field level to enhance best practices sharing and learning;
• Promotes sharing of lessons learned from project M&E to improve project design and implementation across the region;
• Undertakes quality control and final editing of all reports generated at the country level, ensuring all documents reflect sound M&E practice and accurate data.

Development Effective

• Support in project M&E design in proposals is logically sound, beneficiary-informed and contextually appropriate, based on evidence and learning from the field;
• Supports drafting of well-developed M&E plans in project proposals, including development of logical frameworks and performance monitoring plans;
• Monitors program quality and/or effectiveness systems (monitoring, evaluation, accountability, learning);
• Effectively puts in place best practices and lessons learnt for educational programs so they can be shared and/or replicated across the intervention countries;
• Manages the documentation and communication of best practices that are coherent with the strategy, policy, systems & processes;
• Undertakes advocacy as required for AEA’s development work and any related significant issues to achieve strategic objectives.

Qualification

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics, M&E, Project Management, Social Sciences, Education, International Development, or related disciplines; Master’s Degree in a relevant field an added advantage.
• Knowledge of major evaluation, data collection and analysis methodologies including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.
• In-depth knowledge on MIS, M&E and development issues
• Excellent knowledge of monitoring and the application of methodology: good understanding of capacity assessment methodologies; excellent ability to identify significant capacity building opportunities
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral): Sensitivity to and responsiveness to all partners
• Experience with data quality assessment, oversight, and tools development;
• Capacity to produce high-quality reports in English;

Experiences

• At least 10 years professional experience in a M&E system and approach with demonstrated successes in managing teams, program implementation and management, new business development, and working through delegated functional managers
• Experience in planning and managing surveys, developing and refining data collection tools, and with data quality assessments and oversight.